Latest news with #JustinGreene
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Past their due date'? Justin Greene's rivals in Santa Fe mayor's race call out his 'lack of experience'
Santa Fe County Commissioner Justin Greene came out swinging Wednesday when he formally announced his campaign for mayor. Though he didn't drop any names, Greene, now the seventh candidate to jump into the crowded race, asserted some of his rivals are "retired" and "just past their due date" — perhaps not the wisest choice of words in a city with an increasingly growing graying population. In a wide-ranging interview Thursday on The New Mexican's Around the Roundhouse podcast, Greene, 56, sought to clarify his remarks after being asked whether such a message would resonate in a city where a quarter of the population is over the age of 65 and among the most loyal voters. Santa Fe mayoral candidate Justin Greene shares his vision for the city and touts his experience "The point that I was making there is that we need an effective mayor, right?" he said. "Everybody, everybody — even kids that can't vote, right? — have a voice in our governance, right, and talking about the future and talking about things that are needed in the time right now. Right now, we need somebody that's effective, so somebody that's at the peak of their career with the knowledge base, you know, hasn't been sitting on the sidelines for a decade." Former councilors fire back Asked which candidates he was specifically referring to who are has-beens, Greene didn't call out anyone by name. "Some people had run for mayor in the past, and maybe this is time for some new blood," he said. Two of the candidates, Ron Trujillo and JoAnne Vigil Coppler, are both former city councilors who have unsuccessfully run for mayor. Both were defeated by Mayor Alan Webber, who announced in May he would not be seeking a third term. "Is that who we're talking about here?" The New Mexican asked Greene. "I'll let you. Yeah. OK. Thank you," he responded with a smirk. Vigil Coppler fired back at Greene with a retort reminiscent of former President Ronald Reagan when he was asked during a presidential debate in 1984 if he was too old to be president at age 73. "If Mr. Greene wishes to display his ego by making discriminatory remarks about a candidate's age, then I am free to exploit his middle-age youth and complete lack of experience," said Vigil Coppler, 71. During the 1984 debate against Democratic opponent Walter Mondale, Reagan, a Republican known for his sharp wit and sense of humor, quipped, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Vigil Coppler said Reagan's remark remains one of the best lines in American politics, though she noted her remark wasn't plagiarized because it was different. "I'll tell you something else," she added. "Perhaps Mr. Green is taking a line out of the current mayor's playbook [because] he told one of the department directors that she reminded him of an expired date on a milk carton on the shelf." Vigil Coppler declined to disclose the director's identity, saying she asked her not to. A spokesperson for Webber declined comment. Trujillo, who is the same age as Greene, swung back at Greene, too. "There's no expiration on fighting for Santa Fe or caring about its future," he said. Trujillo also noted Greene is campaigning for mayor while serving out his first term as a county commissioner. "Commissioner Greene serving half a term doesn't make him the expert on who's seasoned or who should run for mayor," Trujillo said, adding he delivered "real results" to his council district during his 12 years in office. "I fulfilled my commitment to the voters who elected me to three full four-year terms," he said. "I didn't quit on them to chase a higher-profile office." Greene said he has a responsibility to finish out his term as a county commissioner. "I'm sure that I can balance both of them," he said, referring to his mayoral campaign and his elective office. Not the only Spanish speaker During his campaign announcement Wednesday, Greene also said he believed he is the only mayoral candidate who speaks Spanish, which is false. At least two others, Trujillo and Oscar Rodriguez, a former Taos town manager and Santa Fe finance director, can speak the language. Rodriguez, whose Spanish is impeccable, unlike Greene's, said he's known Greene "as a friend" for years. "Now I'm thinking that I regret so much that I was not able to talk to him in Spanish. Had I known, I would have told him about all my consulting experience in Latin America, precisely in the area of city services," said Rodriguez, who repeated his response word for word in Spanish. Greene speaks closer to what is known as Portuñol in Latin America, or a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese. He said his first second language was Portuguese, which he said he is stronger in than Spanish, primarily because of his Brazilian wife. When informed by The New Mexican on Thursday that other mayoral candidates speak Spanish, Greene said it was good to know. "I think that is definitely an aspect that allows us to reach out to different communities across Santa Fe," he said. As far as saying some of the candidates are past their prime, Greene said he has friends who are seniors who say they wouldn't have the energy to be mayor. "This is going to be an energetic, hard job to do for four years," he said. "As a county commissioner, I'm super hardworking." Greene said he attends "meeting after meeting," routinely collaborates with county staff and responds to constituents at all hours of the day. "I get responses from constituents that are like, 'Wait, did you just email me [on] Sunday morning at three o'clock in the morning?' " he said. "If I'm up, and my phone is near me, I will respond as best I can, and that's just who I am, just a hard worker. "And so that was the point, there, right? You know, some people when they get to a point in their life, they should enjoy retirement. I'm just not there yet."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
County Commissioner Greene announces bid for Santa Fe mayor; third candidate joins District 1 council race
Santa Fe County Commissioner Justin Greene announced Wednesday he is running for Santa Fe mayor, making him the seventh candidate in a crowded race with no clear front-runner. "We've heard too many empty promises. ... I'm ready to lead on day one, and I'm going to do this as your next mayor," Greene said during a brief speech outside City Hall, where he described the city as being "at a crossroads." Greene is the only mayoral candidate to announce a bid following Mayor Alan Webber's announcement in May he will not seek a third term. Attorney and urban planner Pat Feghali also announced Wednesday she will be running for a City Council District 1 seat, making her the third candidate in the race and ensuring there will be at least two contests in the municipal election in which the city's ranked-choice voting system comes into play. The number of council candidates on Santa Fe voters' ballots will differ by district. While the races in Districts 1 and 2 are competitive — with multiple candidates seeking seats being vacated by incumbents — neither of the incumbents running for a second term in Districts 3 and 4 have challengers. 'Next generation' Originally from New York City, Greene has lived in Santa Fe since 1993, and in 2003 founded the Dashing Delivery food delivery service with his wife, Sandra Greene. He was elected in 2022 to the District 1 seat on the Santa Fe County Commission, representing an area that includes portions of the cities of Santa Fe and Española, as well as the community of Chimayó and the pueblos of Tesuque, Pojoaque and Nambé. Greene said his success in county government is evidence he would make a good mayor. He noted the county's development of electric vehicle infrastructure, more than 700 affordable homes in the pipeline and the reopening of the Tesuque Solid Waste Convenience Center. 'Looking at the needs of Santa Fe ... and the lack of trust and respect of City Hall, I know that I can help rebuild that trust and show the respect for all the communities and neighborhoods that cross Santa Fe, and I've done that as a county commissioner,' he said in an interview Tuesday. While he said he believes all the other candidates' hearts 'are in the right place,' he doesn't believe any of them have the expertise he has. 'Some of them just don't have the experience. Some of them are retired, and they're just past their due date,' said Greene, 56. 'We need to find somebody that is next generation, full of knowledge, skills, relationships and energy to get things done right now.' He said his campaign would focus on fixing neglected city infrastructure, tackling the housing crisis 'so teachers, nurses and working families can afford to live here,' addressing homelessness by creating a 'one door' facility with wraparound services, improving public safety and 'modernizing' City Hall. He also described a 'south-side investment plan' that would include the creation of a new Plaza, mercado, performing arts hub, transit facility and senior center: 'everything the south side deserves and has waited way too long for,' Greene said. Asked in an interview Tuesday how he would find the money for such an ambitious plan, he said he envisioned some of it being created through public-private partnerships or state grants, with a potential bond for a new senior center. Greene would like to implement a liaison program for city councilors, he said, similar to one the county commissioners have, in which each council district would have a full-time staff member to help with constituent needs. Greene will be running a privately financed campaign; his campaign manager is Sergio Mata-Cisneros. He was joined at his news conference by about 50 supporters, including Nambé Pueblo Gov. Nathaniel Porter, unsuccessful state Senate District 24 candidate Veronica Krupnick, Española police Chief Mizel Garcia and Escondido chef Fernando Ruiz, who said Greene is the only person he would be willing to wade into politics for. Greene said he believes he is the only mayoral candidate who speaks Spanish. 'Focus on the basics' Several of Greene's campaign planks are shared by council District 1 candidate Feghali, who recently departed the city of Santa Fe after working as an assistant city attorney for four years 'I believe Santa Fe can and should be a city that works for everyone,' Feghali said in a news release Wednesday announcing her campaign. 'We need to focus on the basics — roads, parks, permitting — while also planning intelligently for our future with housing, transportation, and sustainable growth that reflects the values of our community.' Originally from Cincinnati, Feghali moved to Santa Fe full time in 2019. She has a law degree from the University of Minnesota and served as a legislative analyst for the New Mexico House of Representatives before joining the City Attorney's Office. Her campaign will be focused on safe and efficient non-car transportation, affordable housing and homeless services, sustainability and basic city services, the news release said. She is seeking public financing, according to her campaign.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Santa Fe County commissioners raise concerns about LANL expansion possibilities
Santa Fe County commissioners plan to raise concerns about the impacts a potential Los Alamos National Laboratory expansion could have on regional resources in response to a recent environmental report from a federal agency. Commissioners are preparing to respond to a draft site-wide environmental impact statement from the National Nuclear Security Administration that includes three visions for LANL's future, ranging from no action to modernization to expansion, while cataloging environmental impacts for each scenario. A draft letter from the commissioners states the board would not support LANL increasing its footprint in Northern New Mexico. "We support the no action alternative that continues clean up of the site, but no growth of the site or the mission," the letter says. Commissioners are expected to approve the letter at a future meeting, potentially with changes. It notes the lab plays an outsized role in the county's environment, especially when it comes to drinking water. "Pollution" from LANL activities enters the Rio Grande watershed, from which the county draws much of its drinking water, the proposed letter says. The board opted not to approve the draft letter, brought forward by Commissioner Hank Hughes, at its Tuesday meeting. But commissioners unanimously agreed to reconsider it at a subsequent meeting with some potential additions. Commissioner Justin Greene wanted to add language specific to LANL growth and the Northern New Mexico housing landscape. LANL's budget has more than doubled and hundreds of new employees have been added since 2008, increasing its presence in the region. Pit production Although former Commissioner Anna Hansen, an anti-nuclear advocate, was term-limited off the board at the start of the year, the letter would have commissioners continuing to take a strong stance on the national lab's goals related to plutonium pit production for nuclear bomb cores. Perhaps unexpectedly, the all-Democratic board quoted President Donald Trump in the proposed letter, arguing there is no reason for LANL to pursue expansion of its pit production capacity. 'There's no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons; we already have so many," Trump said several weeks ago when speaking to reporters from the Oval Office, a quote that appears in the proposed letter. "[You] could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over.' As a part of a multibillion-dollar effort, the lab is working toward the production of nuclear bomb cores with a goal of making 30 per year by 2030. The pursuit for years has generated controversy throughout Northern New Mexico, with critics raising concerns about environmental impacts and potential health risks. "Given LANL's obligation under [the National Environmental Policy Act] to consider alternative ways to meet its operational goals, framing the issue as a binary choice between shutting the lab down outright or expanding pit production is unserious," states the draft letter from commissioners. Water, PFAS contamination concerns The draft site-wide environmental impact statement notes PFAS have been detected in several wells in Pueblo Canyon and Los Alamos Canyon in amounts exceeding the New Mexico Environment Department's tap water screening levels. The report from NNSA states, "given the understanding that PFAS health effects are rapidly evolving in tandem with increasing regulatory attention to PFAS, the Laboratory will continue to evaluate and consult with NMED on whether additional sampling for PFAS constituents is required." In the proposed letter, the county raises concerns that deferring any action on PFAS contamination while awaiting further risk evaluation and consultation amounts to 'kicking the can down the road' when the risks to the environment and human health are "clear enough today." Commissioners also fear LANL expansion or modernization possibilities pose the prospect of an increase in the risk of PFAS contamination from fire suppression activities. Under the modernization vision for LANL's future set out in the draft, LANL estimates its demand for water will increase by 3.4% in comparison to the no-action alternative. Under the expansion alternative, water consumption is estimated to increase up to 70.7% annually. The lab needs to "ensure that it has sufficient water rights to accommodate this increased usage," the draft letter from county commissioners states. Concern about spotted owl habitat Under the modernization alternative, 15 projects could potentially occur in undeveloped habitat for the Mexican spotted owl, a species the federal government considerers threatened, according to the draft letter from commissioners. Most of the land disturbance would occur if a solar panel array system was fully built on the nine proposed sites in order to meet energy goals for the lab, disrupting habitat for the spotted owl. "If the expansion is proposed, efforts should be taken to protect spotted owl habitat in other areas, such as leaving dead trees for nesting," the letter states. "Ideally with the no action alternative, there is no need for the [solar panel] array system or the power line across the Caja del Rio." Power line controversy At several public meetings held in the last six months, area residents have continually railed against a proposed power line that would cut through 14 miles of the ecologically significant Caja del Rio plateau to shore up the lab's power supply. The high-voltage line would include transmission towers and a 100-foot-wide swath along its path from the lab through White Rock Canyon, south across the Caja del Rio plateau, then east through the Santa Fe National Forest to a substation. Federal officials say the project is needed because the two lines that now power the lab are becoming strained and will reach their capacity by 2027. In the draft letter, the county expressed hope the lab will go another direction amid calls to protect the Caja del Rio plateau. Commissioners previously approved a letter objecting to a 'finding of no significant impact' from U.S. Forest Service officials for the proposed power line last year. "The County asks LANL to consider alternative approaches to satisfying its power needs that have a lesser impact on the Caja del Rio," the draft letter said.
